Christine,

$5,500 is a lot of money for a 17 year old vehicle. If you have a banker

that you know and deal with she/he can give you the "blue book" value of

the westy. This is the price the bank will look at when considering a
loan. Blue book value is a national average for value and for westy's it

sorta goes right out the window but the bank will still consider it
heavily when determining the amount of money they will loan you.

Sounds like the seller is asking a price that reflects the money
invested in the vehicle rather than what the going rate might be.
Deciding what to pay for a Westy can be difficult. A quest for a Westy
can be an irrational undertaking and logic and common sense are often
discarded in the rush to find that "special vehicle"!

I looked for nearly two years before I found my 84 westy in 1991. It had

no rust, interior and camping accessories were great and the van was in
fairly good mechanical shape. I paid $6,500. In your area of the country

there are so many of the spring and summer VW Shows. I would go to these

and you usually can find a good selection westies on the market.

In my opinion the air cooled van especially the late 70's and early 80's

if taken care of are probably mechanically (engine wise) more dependable

than the water cooled vans from 83 on. On the down side exhaust headers,

heater box assemblies are very expensive. For someone who might have to
pay to have work done this is a factor to consider. Parts for these
things are expensive however there are some excellent part providers on
the list. For those of us who grew up driving beetles there is a certain

elegance and simplicity to the air cooled engine. They also produce a
sound that for many provides a pleasing aesthetic dimension. In the end
I chose water cooled and HEAT which is something we didn't have growing
up with beetles! Warm is nice.

Good luck,

Bob, 84 Westy